U.S. patent number 10,520,161 [Application Number 16/242,853] was granted by the patent office on 2019-12-31 for automobile lamp.
This patent grant is currently assigned to JUTE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.. The grantee listed for this patent is JUTE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Shih-Chieh Wei.
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United States Patent |
10,520,161 |
Wei |
December 31, 2019 |
Automobile lamp
Abstract
An automobile lamp includes a lamp seat, a lighting unit, and a
light guiding member. The lighting unit is positioned on the lamp
sear. The light guiding member is disposed on the lamp seat and
covers the lighting unit. The light guiding member is formed with a
plurality of ribs thereon. The ribs form a corrugated structure
along the radial direction of the light guiding member. When a
plurality of light beams are emitted from the lighting unit into
the light guiding member, part of the light beams travels along the
corrugated structure.
Inventors: |
Wei; Shih-Chieh (Taichung,
TW) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
JUTE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. |
Taichung |
N/A |
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
JUTE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
(Taichung, TW)
|
Family
ID: |
69057686 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/242,853 |
Filed: |
January 8, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F21V
5/045 (20130101); F21S 43/26 (20180101); F21V
31/005 (20130101); F21V 19/0035 (20130101); F21S
43/14 (20180101); F21Y 2105/18 (20160801); F21Y
2115/10 (20160801) |
Current International
Class: |
B60Q
1/04 (20060101); F21V 31/00 (20060101); F21V
19/00 (20060101); F21V 5/04 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Breval; Elmito
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe,
P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An automobile lamp, including: a lamp seat; a lighting unit,
including a circuit board and a plurality of LEDs, the circuit
board being disposed on the lamp seat, the LEDs being electrically
connected to the circuit board respectively; a light guiding
member, disposed on the lamp seat and covering the lighting unit,
having a first face and a second face opposite to the first face,
the first face being flat and facing a plurality of lighting
portions of the LEDs, a plurality of ribs being formed on the
second face, the ribs forming a corrugated structure along a radial
direction of the light guiding member; wherein when a plurality of
light beams from the lighting portions emit through the first face
into the light guiding member, part of the light beams further
travel along the corrugated structure.
2. The automobile lamp of claim 1, wherein a number of the light
beams traveling along the radial direction of the light guiding
member via the corrugated structure is reduced toward a direction
away from the lighting portions.
3. The automobile lamp of claim 1, wherein the ribs are aligned
along the radial direction of the light guiding member, each of the
ribs has a rib crest and two rib slopes, an end of each of the rib
slopes is connected to the rib crest, an other end of each of the
rib slopes is connected to one of the rib slopes of an adjacent one
of the ribs.
4. The automobile lamp of claim 3, wherein a length of a bottom of
each of the ribs is defined as a maximum linear distance between
the two ribs along the radial direction of the light guiding
member, a rib height of each of the ribs is defined as a maximum
linear distance between the rib crest and the bottom along the
radial direction of the light guiding member, a ratio of the rib
height to the length of the bottom is ranged between 0.5-0.7.
5. The automobile lamp of claim 4, wherein a number of the light
beams traveling along the radial direction of the light guiding
member via the corrugated structure is reduced toward a direction
away from the lighting portions; when observing along the radial
direction of the light guiding member, the LEDs are located closed
to a periphery of the second face; the LEDs are arranged about a
central axis and form a plurality of annular layers; the LEDs are
arranged spacedly along both the radial direction and a
circumferential direction of the light guiding member; the
automobile lamp further includes a frame, the lamp seat further has
a support portion, the frame is disposed on the support portion to
enclose a receiving space between the frame and the support
portion, the light guiding member is restricted in the receiving
space; the support portion includes a support unit and a plurality
of recesses, the light guiding member is arranged on the support
unit, the frame includes a main body and a plurality of coupling
portions connected to the main body, the main body and the support
unit clamp the light guiding member, the coupling portions are
coupled to the recesses; the ribs are arranged on the second face
as concentric circles, the ribs partition the second face into a
first zone, a second zone, and a third zone, the first zone is
circle-shaped, each of the second zone and the third zone is
ring-shaped, the second zone is located between the first zone and
the third zone; the first zone is flat and smooth, each of the
second zone and the third zone has a plurality of the ribs, each of
the ribs in the second zone has a rib height vary from a rib height
of each of the ribs in the third zone; the LEDs are arranged along
the circumferential direction of the light guiding member to be
concentric circles; the light guiding member is disc-shaped; the
frame is ring-shaped; each of the rib crests has an arc-shaped
contour in a radial cross-section of the light guiding member, each
of the rib slopes is linear in a radial cross-section of the light
guiding member, a ratio of a radius of curvature of the rib crest
to the length of each of the rib slopes is ranged 0.8-1.4; the
automobile lamp further includes a sealing plug and a lamp cover,
the sealing plug is inserted through and positioned to the lamp
seat, a wire of the circuit board is inserted through the sealing
plug to connect to a power supply, the lamp cover covers the light
guiding member and is positioned to the lamp seat; the recesses
include three said recesses arranged isometrically, the coupling
portions include three said coupling portions arranged
isometrically, the support unit includes six first positioning
pins, a pair of the first positioning pins is arranged between any
two adjacent ones of the recesses along the circumferential
direction of the light guiding member, the main body is extended
with six second positioning pins, the second positioning pins
correspond to the first positioning pins respectively; a ratio of a
vertical distance between the first face and the second face to a
vertical distance between the first face to the lighting portions
along the axial direction of the light guiding member is ranged
0.15-0.3.
6. The automobile lamp of claim 1, wherein when observing along the
radial direction of the light guiding member, the LEDs are located
closed to a periphery of the second face.
7. The automobile lamp of claim 1, wherein the LEDs are arranged
about a central axis and form a plurality of annular layers.
8. The automobile lamp of claim 7, wherein the LEDs are arranged
spacedly along both the radial direction and a circumferential
direction of the light guiding member.
9. The automobile lamp of claim 1, further including a frame, the
lamp seat further having a support portion, the frame being
disposed on the support portion to enclose a receiving space
between the frame and the support portion, the light guiding member
being restricted in the receiving space.
10. The automobile lamp of claim 9, wherein the support portion
includes a support unit and a plurality of recesses, the light
guiding member is arranged on the support unit, the frame includes
a main body and a plurality of coupling portions connected to the
main body, the main body and the support unit clamp the light
guiding member, the coupling portions are coupled to the recesses.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile lamp.
Description of the Prior Art
Conventional automobile lamp has a reflection face to reflect the
light beams emitted from lighting members at specific positions to
further emit outward through a lamp cover, or has a light guiding
member to gather light beams or to make the light beams travel
further.
However, the light beams are simple and monotonous to lack of
identification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide an
automobile lamp which is able to provide 3D light beams with
gradation.
To achieve the above and other objects, the automobile lamp
includes a lamp seat, a lighting unit, and a light guiding
member.
The lighting unit includes a circuit board and a plurality of LEDs.
The circuit board is disposed on the lamp seat. The LEDs is
electrically connected to the circuit board respectively. The light
guiding member is disposed on the lamp seat and covers the lighting
unit. The light guiding member has a first face and a second face
opposite to the first face. The first face is flat and faces a
plurality of lighting portions of the LEDs. A plurality of ribs are
formed on the second face. The ribs form a corrugated structure
along a radial direction of the light guiding member. When a
plurality of light beams from the lighting portions emit through
the first face into the light guiding member, part of the light
beams further travel along the corrugated structure.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following
description when taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the
preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a stereogram of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a breakdown drawing of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a lateral cross-section drawing of the present
invention;
FIG. 4 is a top view of the present invention without a light
guiding member;
FIG. 5 is an A-A cross-section drawing of FIG. 3 of the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is an illustration of refraction showing light beams from
LEDs into a light guiding member of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is an illustration of the present invention;
FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are pictures of a sample of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 9, the automobile lamp of the
present invention includes a lamp seat 1, a lighting unit 2, and a
light guiding member 3.
The lighting unit 2 includes a circuit board 21 and a plurality of
LEDs 22. The circuit board 21 is disposed on the lamp seat 1. The
LEDs 22 is electrically connected to the circuit board 21
respectively. The light guiding member 3 is disposed on the lamp
seat 1 and covers the lighting unit 2. The light guiding member 3
has a first face 31 and a second face 32 opposite to the first face
31. The first face 31 is flat and faces a plurality of lighting
portions 221 of the LEDs 22. A plurality of ribs 41 are formed on
the second face 32. The ribs 41 form a corrugated structure 4 along
a radial direction of the light guiding member 3.
When a plurality of light beams 8 from the lighting portions 221
emit through the first face 31 into the light guiding member 3,
part of the light beams 8 further travel along the corrugated
structure 4. For example, the light beams 8 refract and travel
toward the center of the light guiding member 3. Besides, the
number of the light beams 8 traveling along the radial direction of
the light guiding member 3 via the corrugated structure 4 is
reduced toward a direction away from the lighting portions 221.
That is, the brightness is reduced, and the width of light beam is
reduced too so that the light beam is gradational and directional.
The light beams form a complete light pattern. In addition, the
light beams transform according to the angle of observer to make
the light beams float. That is, the light beams form different
patterns when observed from different positions.
Specifically, the ribs 41 are aligned along the radial direction of
the light guiding member 3. Each of the ribs 41 has a rib crest 411
and two rib slopes 412. An end of each of the rib slopes 412 is
connected to the rib crest 411. An other end of each of the rib
slopes 412 is connected to one of the rib slopes 412 of an adjacent
one of the ribs 41. That is, the corrugated structure 4 is wavy
along the radial direction of the light guiding member 3 so that
the light beams 8 from LEDs 22 at the same radial position but
different circumferential positions have the same pattern during
refraction to make it easier to design.
More specifically, a length of a bottom 42 of each of the ribs 41
is defined as a maximum linear distance between the two ribs 41
along the radial direction of the light guiding member 3. A rib
height 43 of each of the ribs 41 is defined as a maximum linear
distance between the rib crest 411 and the bottom 42 along the
radial direction of the light guiding member 3. When a ratio of the
rib height 43 to the length of the bottom 42 is ranged between
0.5-0.7, and a ratio of a vertical distance between the first face
31 and the second face 32 to a vertical distance between the first
face 31 to the lighting portions 221 along the axial direction of
the light guiding member 3 is ranged 0.15-0.3, the refraction of
the light beams 8 form a preferable pattern. In the present
embodiment, each of the rib crests 411 has an arc-shaped contour in
a radial cross-section of the light guiding member 3, and each of
the rib slopes 412 is linear in a radial cross-section of the light
guiding member 3. A ratio of a radius of curvature of the rib crest
411 to the length of each of the rib slopes 412 is ranged
0.8-1.4
In the present embodiment, the light guiding member 3 is
disc-shaped. The ribs 41 are arranged on the second face 32 as
concentric circles. The ribs 41 partition the second face 32 into a
first zone 321, a second zone 322, and a third zone 323. The first
zone 321 is circle-shaped. Each of the second zone 322 and the
third zone 323 is ring-shaped. The second zone 322 is located
between the first zone 321 and the third zone 323. The first zone
321 is flat and smooth. Each of the second zone 322 and the third
zone 323 has a plurality of the ribs 41. Each of the ribs 41 in the
second zone 322 has a rib height 43 vary from a rib height 43 of
each of the ribs 41 in the third zone 323. Thereby, the light beams
form a 3D pattern.
Specifically, when observing along the radial direction of the
light guiding member 3, the LEDs 22 are located closed to a
periphery of the second face 32. The LEDs 22 are arranged about a
central axis and form a plurality of annular layers. For example,
the LEDs 22 are arranged along the circumferential direction of the
light guiding member 3 to be concentric circles. Thereby, the light
beams form a pattern with gradation toward the center.
In the present embodiment, the LEDs 22 are arranged spacedly along
both the radial direction and a circumferential direction of the
light guiding member 3. In other words, the LEDs 22 are arranged
alternately. When observing laterally and obliquely, the LEDs 22
look like shining stars emitting light beams upward toward the
center to form a light cone.
Specifically, the automobile lamp further includes a frame 5. The
frame 5 is ring-shaped. The lamp seat 1 further includes a support
portion 11. The frame 5 is positioned to the support portion 11 to
enclose a receiving space 14 between the frame 5 and the support
portion 11. The light guiding member 3 is restricted in the
receiving space 14. More specifically, the support portion 11
includes a support unit 12 and a plurality of recesses 13. The
light guiding member 3 is arranged on the support unit 12. The
frame 5 includes a main body 51 and a plurality of coupling
portions 52 connected to the main body 51. The main body 51 and the
support unit 12 clamp the light guiding member 3. The coupling
portions 52 are coupled to the recesses 13.
In the present embodiment, the recesses 13 include three said
recesses 13 arranged isometrically, and the coupling portions 52
include three said coupling portions 52 arranged isometrically. The
support unit 12 includes six first positioning pins 121. A pair of
the first positioning pins 121 is arranged between any two adjacent
ones of the recesses 13 along the circumferential direction of the
light guiding member 3. The main body 51 is extended with six
second positioning pins 53. The second positioning pins 53
correspond to the first positioning pins 121 respectively. Thereby,
the light guiding member 3 is firmly clamped and positioned.
Preferably, the automobile lamp further includes a sealing plug 6
and a lamp cover 7. The sealing plug 6 is inserted through and
positioned to the lamp seat 1. A wire 23 of the circuit board 21 is
inserted through the sealing plug 6 to connect to a power supply.
The sealing plug 6 can prohibit water from entering the lamp seat
1. The lamp cover 7 covers the light guiding member 3 and is
positioned on the lamp seat 1 to protect the light guiding member
3.
In conclusion, the automobile lamp of the present invention can
provide light beams with gradation extending toward the center, and
the light beams refracted by the light guiding member form a
cone-shaped pattern. In addition, the pattern of light beams varies
when observing at different positions.
* * * * *